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I think it must be 1988 or 1989 during a gig in Heerenveen when I first got acquainted with the band Sinister. After the show the members mingled with the fans and drank a beer together. At that time it must have been one of the most brutal bands I knew. Now more then 20 years later the band releases their tenth album. I will not dive into the bands history, you probably can find that somewhere on the internet.

The only original member left in the band is Adrie Kloosterwaard. He started back in 1988 on drums, but has been the vocalist since 2005. I am rather surprised that there is a new album at all, because last year all the other members quit. Adrie has recruited new members rather fast and they all fit in very well. The music on this album is brutal the way we are used from this Dutch band. It is probably one of the most brutal albums the band recorded till date.

You immediately recognize the low grunting style of Adrie. The music does sound a bit more death metal the American way but enough typical Sinister elements can be heard on the album. The last 25 years Sinister stood for aggression, groove and enormous tempos and on that point nothing has changed. A big gain is new drummer Toep Duin, that guy is fast! Besides Morbid Angel I think I hear some Nile and Gojira parts on the album too. Jörg Uken has given the album a very good sound and if you still are not convinced if you should buy the album, maybe the five bonus cover songs can win you over. I am not going to tell you who made the original song, I think the older metal fans will know it just by looking at the song titles.

With a complete new team, Adrie managed to make one of the better death metal albums this year, a job well done!

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